International Journal of Engineering Works

ISSN-p: 2521-2419 ISSN-e: 2409-2770

Vol. 8, Issue 04, PP. 138-146, April 2021 https://www.ijew.io/

https://doi.org/10.34259/ijew.21.804138146

Authors retain all © copyrights 2021 IJEW. This is an open access article distributed under the CC-BY License, which permits

unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited..

Energy Management in Domestic Household to Reduce Monthly Bill

through Feedback Sundus Anwar1 , Dr. Tanvir Ahmad2, Fazal-e-Wahab3

1,2 Department USPCAS-E UET Peshawar, Pakistan 3Department of Electrical Engg, Kohat, UET Peshawar, Pakistan

sundas.anwar@hotmail.com1, tanvir.ahmad@uetpeshawar. edu.pk2, wahabmarwat@uetpeshawar.edu.pk3

Received: 25 March, Revised: 20 April, Accepted: 22 April

Abstract—Home energy monitoring and/or management

system are tools that could be used by homeowners to increase

awareness, which may eventually lead to adoption of energy

saving measures. In this technologically advanced era,

electricity is essential to support our daily life. People rely upon

electricity to help them go through their everyday schedules

either at homes, offices and even at all other places. But with

the advancement in technology, the demand-supply gap is also

increasing. To overcome the issue, we need to increase

generation. A lot of Renewable energy generation projects are

under process to produce clean and sustainable energy but, to

control the problem completely, we need efficient energy

utilization to avoid the wastage of energy. Consumers need to

adopt low energy consumption lifestyle through awareness and

easy access. Customers usually receive no information on how

much various energy appliances cost to operate. If consumer

attempt to conserve energy, they receive inadequate

information about the energy consumption. Because

conventional metering system provide electricity bill at the end

of every month and most of the consumers are also unable to

understand the information provided by the existing metering

system because the energy charge is for kWh and details about

patterns of consumption are not available. As a result, the

consumer does not realize their household’s consumption.

In this paper, we propose an interactive system that will

allow the user to define the electricity consumption for a

particular month according to their own budget. This system

will continuously update the user about their consumed

electricity and the current bill calculated based on tariff defined

by the utility. At the same time the system will also show the

expected projected monthly bill based on the previous average

electricity consumption pattern. To establish this two-way flow

of data we have designed a mobile application that allows a user

to define their targeted electricity consumption for a particular

month according to the budget. This app will communicate with

the controller to collect electrical parameters and timely inform

the consumer about their consumption through feedback that

will display both instantaneous and processed data.

Keywords: Consumption Awareness, Smart Meter, Energy Management..

I. INTRODUCTION

Energy Management is an approach to deal with the power

utilization and adjust to the changing behavior of the

community mainly caused by the technological revolution [1-

2]. Humanity is facing the biggest energy challenge of

inadequacy and the rising energy demands. A lot of measures

have been taken to overcome the shortage of electricity in

Pakistan; Researcher’s in [3] suggest increasing the total

generation; this will require a lot of fuel for the production of

electricity which makes the price unit of electrical energy to

increase. Smart grids [4] are another solution to reduce energy

wastage that controls the domestic user appliances in case of

system overloading but this system is complex and restrict the

user to compromise on their comfort. In an attempt to reduce

energy losses, prepayment meters were installed to manage the

energy costs that required the user to pay for energy in advance,

but the system is costly and inefficient[5]. The solutions

presented are not economical for a developing country like

Pakistan and require a lot of investment in terms of money. So

there is a need to look for better and low cost solution to

overcome the issue and that is by raising awareness of the

consumption and to reduce energy wastage.

We explore if energy management system can influence

homeowners in such a way that they adjust

their energy utilizing practices. We identify a system as

home energy monitoring system if it only provides insight, but

if the system also allows control, we distinguish it as a home

energy monitoring system. A smart meter is not necessary in

order to be able to determine the energy utilization, but for

better understanding of consumption user need to get adequate

feedback [6]. The way feedback is provided is also an important

characteristic of the system to allow motivation of

homeowners. There are various ways in which the feedback to

the households can be given:

International Journal of Engineering Works Vol. 8, Issue 04, PP. 138-146, March 2021

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Indirect feedback: Subsequently providing the information

after reviewing the past events e.g. using energy bill.

Direct feedback: Immediate Computerized information

provided in real time e.g. using smart phones or computers.

Electric Utility Companies used conventional method for

providing feedback to house owners in the form of monthly

bills which showed consumption for that particular month only

and also exhibited the past annual summary of their total energy

use.

Over the last decades this situation has changed

considerably, and the preference is given to direct feedback

through smart meters or devices that give visual displays.

Researchers from the European environment agency (2013)

indicates that combining both form of feedbacks (direct and

indirect) has, so far been the most effective in achieving energy

savings and changing the consumer behavior [7]. Another

research finds that communicating with the feedback devices

and setting a target for energy saving by consumers themselves

has the potential to yield the best results [8]. Research by

Murray et al. (2015) also indicates that households and the

individual appliances they use have distinct energy

consumption pattern, and thus a personalized feedback

approach is needed [9]. Kobus (2016) concluded that feedback

should be provided frequently in real time because it enables

the user to link their behavior to the consequences. The study

also shows that expressing energy consumption in costs has a

great impact on energy saving measures [10].

We explore how this system can provide them knowledge

about the possibilities to change their behavior and get insight

in the possible profit that that can be achieved. Jesper Kjeldskov

et.al (2012) designed a mobile application named “Power

advisor” that provided conservation of electricity through

tailored information on a tablet or mobile phone [11]. Findings

provided insight into people’s awareness of electricity

consumption in their home and how this may be influenced

through design.

Ueno ET. Al. Constructed a system known as “Energy

consumption information system (ECOIS)” [12] for creating

awareness at residential level and to motivate energy-saving

activities. The system comprised of two parts; monitoring and

distribution. Monitoring of the power consumption was done

through meters and Distribution side included a lab-based

computer which was used to distribute data to the information

terminal for each user via email.

End-use load monitoring at the individual customer level,

gives a fuller understanding of how much electricity is used for

what purpose, and when, is vital information for efficient

energy management.

Knowledge of load shapes is also important for calculating

the cost of supplying a specific end-use [13]. The central POEM

(Power-efficient occupancy-based energy management) Unit

collects the data which can be displayed or transferred to other

systems for analysis.

P.Ilatchiya et.al (2016) [14] designed and developed a smart

monitoring and controlling for household electrical appliance

in real time. The control mechanism was implemented via

android application where the message was sent to mobile

through GSM giving information on power consumption of

each load and control was done in remote by creating popup

window.

All the solutions presented were to reduce the electricity

consumption but the limitation of the researches is that these

are more focused on energy feedback and did not allow user

interaction to enter their targeted monthly bill according to their

budget.

II. SYSTEM MODELING

The proposed system mainly consists of a Controller, Real

Time Clock (RTC), Wi-Fi module, Relay module and LCD

display.

Figure 1: System Block diagram

As illustrated in Figure 1 proposed system is divided into two parts; data

collection and control unit.

A. Data collection

In order to help the customers to reduce their electricity

consumption and become more aware, the main aim is to know

the electrical parameters of the household such as voltage and

current. This data is essential for an accurate quantification of

energy which will provide detailed electricity consumption and

thereby calculating the power consumed.

Sensing units are used to measure the values of current and

voltage, thus calculating the total power. The sensors used are

ACS712 (20A) and ZMPT101B, for measuring current and

voltage respectively.

Current sensor is a device which senses AC or DC current

in a conducting wire and produces a voltage proportional to it.

A current sensor ACS-712 (20A) is used in this project which

operates on 5V and consists of linear Hall sensor circuit with a

copper conduction path located near the surface of the die. The

Hall IC sense the magnetic field produced by current flowing

through copper conducting path and produce voltage

proportional to the current. ACS 712 measure positive and

negative 30Amps, corresponding to the analog output. This

voltage value is then fed to controller for controlling the

devices.

For voltage measurement the sensor used is ZMPT101B. It

is used to measure AC voltage and has high accuracy for

measuring power and can measure voltage up to 250V. The

output voltage is stepped down to 5V suitable for interfacing

with the controller.

International Journal of Engineering Works Vol. 8, Issue 04, PP. 138-146, March 2021

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B. Control Unit

Control Unit is the main brain of this project. It will receive

data from mobile application as well as the loads and

manipulate the data to make decisions accordingly.

Arduino MEGA 2560 is used as the central controller. The

programming language is simple and can easily run on

windows, LINUX and Mac. The controller stores the data

assigned by the user through mobile application and compares

it with the real time power. On the basis of these values, the

controller is able to provide the information about the consumed

units and the remaining units limit. When the consumed units

exceeds the targeted units for a day, it will either inform the user

in the form of a pop-up message on mobile device or will

automatically switch off the optional loads and let the basic

loads running.

Wi-Fi Module

Communication of the controller with other devices is done

through a Wi-Fi module i.e. ESP 8266 which is serially

interfaced with controller. It is a low-cost Wi-Fi microchip that

can give access to Wi-Fi network (or the device can act as an

access point).

C. Real Time Clock (RTC)

RTC is real time clock in the form of an Integrated Circuit.

RTCs are present in almost every electronic device which needs

to keep accurate time to stay updated.

In order to provide real time feedback to consumers about

energy consumption, our system must keep an updated track of

the current time. We have used RTC because it has low power

consumption and is more accurate than other time calculating

methods.

III. SIMULATION OF PROPOSED SYSTEM

A. Proteus model

ISIS8 PROFESSIONAL (Proteus) is used for simulation.

The real time simulation of system is shown in Figure 2. The

built-in library of simulator consists of thousands of devices. To

meet the design requirements of the system, several

components have been used which are available and can be

implemented at a practical level. The connections are

established, and hex file is burnt into the Arduino in simulation.

Figure 2: Proteus Model

B. Flow Chart and Algorithm

The controller has been programmed according to the

effective, well defined and efficient algorithm to get required

goals. We have taken five loads (L1, L2, L3, L4 and L5), two

of which are categorized as optional loads i.e. L1= Air

Condition, L2=washing machine and the other three loads are

categorized as basic loads that always needs to be running i.e.

L3=Bulb, L4= fan and L5=Refrigerator.

We have also defined two modes (strict and relax modes).

In the strict mode, if the consumed energy (Ec) is less than the

energy limit (EL), all the loads will remain on but if the

consumed energy (Ec) exceeds energy limit (EL), controller

will automatically switch off the loads categorized as optional

(L1 & L2) and the basic loads (L3, L4 & L5) will keep running.

In the Relax mode, user comfort is not compromised and

controller will notify the consumer in the form of a pop-up

message on their mobile device, if the consumed energy (Ec)

exceeds the energy limit (EL). The whole operation of the

controller is presented by a flow chart in Figure 3.

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Figure 2: Flow chart

IV. PERFORMANCE EVALUTION

A. Android Application

A mobile application has been designed called Smart energy

meter to explore different kinds of information and feedback on

power consumption. This application can be used to calculate

daily/monthly load’s energy consumption and provide detailed

and tailored information on the pattern of consumption. Figure

4 shows the main window of the application that integrates two

menu items; load planning and load management. Load

planning allows the user to define their targeted electricity

consumption in the form of hourly usage of each appliance.

Load management tab allow us to switch on and off the loads

remotely from android application.

Figure 3: Application Home page

Figure 4: Slots for each load

In the load planning windows, the user first assigns the rated

power and daily usage hours of each load as shown in Figure 5.

By using these parameters, the app will calculate total monthly

KWH.

Figure 6 shows some additional options where user will

enter the different slabs and their per unit price defined by

utility. To get more accurate estimated bill, surcharge tax,

general sale tax and fuel adjustment tax option is also included

in the app. By clicking the estimated tab, it will display the total

calculated monthly bill based on total KWh.

Figure 5: Additional Options

The user can make the monthly bill according to their budget

by modifying the appliances daily usage hours. To activate the

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system, the user will press the submit button and then controller

will start controlling the loads according to schedule.

During a month, any time the user can check the current bill

(based on energy consumed) and expected bill (based on

average consumption). Which encourage consumer to reduce

the energy consumption to keep the bill within their defined

budget.

B. Results

The designed system was tested several times in laboratory

where we used bulbs as four different loads. After successfully

evaluating the system it was properly installed at household

level to further validate the results. Figure 7 shows the

hardware prototype examination in laboratory and figure 8

shows complete hardware system installed at main junction box

of one of the household selected to perform case study.

Successful verification of strict and relax modes was also done

where if the energy limit for a day exceeded, all optional loads

were switched off or the user was informed by a pop-up

message appearing on the android device screen. The proposed

system is flexible and scalable which makes it better than the

systems currently available in the market.

Figure 7: Prototype testing at lab

Figure 8: Hardware Installed

C. Case study

In order to accomplish the electrical energy conservation at

residential level, a case study was conducted. The study was

performed in 2018 for three households. House ‘A’ consisted

of four family members, the House ‘B’ with seven members,

and the third house ‘C’ with a total family member of nine

persons. Each house comprises five bedrooms and the

commonly used appliances by the families were refrigerators,

air conditioning systems, electric heating systems, microwave

ovens, electric kettles, fans and lights. Monthly energy meter

readings were noted down for each household with and without

this system.

Figure 9 (a): Energy utilization of household A in 2017 before system installation

Figure 9(b): Energy utilization of household B in 2017 before system installation

Here the electrical energy conservation was achieved by

using the system and defining their targeted electricity

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consumption. They were also advised to change their common

behavior in order to avoid wastage of electrical energy and

motivated them not to leave the appliances in standby modes.

To carry out an effective statistical analysis, the achieved

results in 2018 were also compared with the previous year 2017

meter readings for the same months.

Figure 9(c): Energy utilization of household C in 2017 before system

installation

The data for unit’s consumption and monthly bill of three

households for the year 2017, before the system was installed,

is shown graphically in figure 9 (a,b,c). Household A was

considered to be the most efficient consumer with least waste

of resources, household B was average consumer, and

household C was the least efficient consumer of electricity. For

the household ‘A’, average consumption before the installation

of system was 259kWh. For household B the average

consumption was 266.5833kWh, and for household C, the

average consumption was calculated to be 727.75kWh.

Figure 10(a): Energy utilization of household A in 2018 after system

installation

Figure 10(b): Energy utilization of household B in 2018 after system

installation

Figure 10(c): Energy utilization of household C in 2018 after system installation

But after the installation of the system in 2018 for

conservation of energy, the system showed clear reduction in

the consumed units, thereby reducing the monthly electricity

bill. Following graphical Figure 10 (a,b,c) shows clear

reduction in consumption of electricity for three household

It was concluded that the household A was much more

aware of their consumptions and was using the electricity very

efficiently even before the system was installed. Their average

consumption in 2018 came out to be 254kWh thereby, saving

21.25kWh and on average saved 6.25% of electricity for the

year 2018. Similarly the average consumption of house B came

to be 267kWh and saved a total of 63kWh with a percent saving

for year 2018 to be 16.41%.

On the other hand, household C was consuming electricity

very generously and was worried about their increased

electricity bill before system installation. But after the system

was installed they became more aware and informed about the

consumption and reduced their average consumption to

780.5kWh saving 291.4 kWh units of electricity with 22.75%

energy saved for complete year.

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D. Savings through Strict and relax mode

The mobile application named SMART ENERGY METER

also has an additional feature that allows the user to plan the

usage of electricity according to their own budget and is able to

calculate the expected monthly bill. It further has two modes (i)

Strict and (ii) Relax mode; in which if the system is in strict

mode, all the unwanted loads will automatically turn off once

the targeted consumption is achieved, leaving the basic loads

running. While in relax mode the user gets notified in the form

of a pop up message about their increased consumption.

This feature was specifically tested for summer season in

the month of May and June. In order to do a comparison

between the energy saved through strict and relax modes,

consumer C was selected because of their already increased

electricity consumption.

Relax mode (May 2018)

For the month of May, system was considered to run under

relax mode. In relax mode user comfort is not compromised and

controller will notify the consumer in the form of a pop-up

message on their mobile device, if the consumed energy

exceeds the energy limit. Consumer C set the targeted units to

be 1000kWh and daily consumption units were calculated, but

at the end of month the consumed units were 1285kWh. Table

1 summarizes the details about the targeted units, consumed

units and average daily consumption.

Table 1 Targeted and Consumed units under relax mode

May 2018 (Relax Mode)

May 2018 (Relax Mode)

Target Units 1000 kWh

Weekly Allowed 250 kWh

daily allowed 33.33 kWh

Consumed Units 1285 kWh

Weekly Consumed 321.25 kWh

Daily consumed 42.833 kWh

Exceeded units 285 kWh

The user tried to reduce consumption in order to meet the

targeted unit’s and consumed a total of 1285kW units with a

total monthly utility bill of 26000 PKR. Compared to the last

year bill for the same month, they were able to reduce their

consumption and saved 35% of the energy for May 2018.

Strict Mode (June 2018)

To study the effect on energy conservation through strict

mode Household C was again selected for June 2018. In the

strict mode, if the consumed energy exceeds energy limit,

controller will automatically switch off the loads categorized as

optional and the basic loads will keep running. E.g. if the user

has consumed their targeted units for a day at 9:00pm, their

optional loads (AC, Washing Machine, dishwasher etc.) will be

switched off automatically and they have to wait till 12:00am

until the next day starts in order to make the optional appliances

operational again. But in case of emergency, if there is a dire

need, user can manually restart the devices. This will count on

as the extra units consumed.

Since June is warmer than the month May, energy

consumption was proportionally higher than the previous

month. User set the targeted electricity units to be 1250 kWh

and average daily allowed consumption was calculated to be 42

kWh, but consumed 1341 kWh by the end of June 2018 under

strict mode. Table 2 summarizes the details about the targeted

units, consumed units and average daily consumption.

Table 2 Targeted and consumed units under strict mode

June 2018 (Strict Mode)

June 2018 (Strict Mode)

Target Units 1250 kWh

Weekly Allowed 310 kWh

daily allowed 42 kWh

Consumed Units 1341 kWh

Weekly Consumed 335 kWh

Daily consumed 44.7 kWh

Exceeded units 91 kWh

Their total consumed units by the end of June 2018 were

1341 kWh with a monthly bill of 27759 PKR. Compared to the

last year bill for the same month, this user saved 38% of the

energy for June 2018 under strict mode.

Figure 11(a): Daily consumption under Relax Mode

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International Journal of Engineering Works Vol. 8, Issue 04, PP. 138-146, March 2021

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Figure 11(b): Daily consumption under Relax Mode

Figure 12(a): Daily consumption under Strict Mode

Figure 12(b): Daily consumption under Strict mode

Therefore, it can be concluded that more energy can be saved

when the system is running under strict mode. Summary of the

study is shown by a line graph and bar chart in figure 11 (a,b)

and 12 (a,b), respectively.

CONCLUSION

In this era of technology, it is the most economical and

efficient operation developed to facilitate the mankind. This

project identifies that how consumers can manage their energy

consumption by just using an application installed on their

android devices. It is the most practical and accessible way to

provide control of the loads by assigning their desired usage

according to customer’s budget.

Android Application has made it possible to select as many

loads as you can and assign them as many units as per liking.

This energy meter with addition to the app will keep user

updated with the number of units consumed and calculating the

expected bills. Thus letting the users know about their usage

and help them reduce their monthly bills and energy

consumption by better management of loads.

In order, not to compromise on the user privacy and comfort,

two options for the controlling of the devices is included; (i)

Strict mode and (ii) relax mode. In strict mode when the usage

limit exceeds, the optional loads are automatically switched off,

while in relax mode user gets notified about the usage in the

form of a pop-up message.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors wish to thank University of Engineering and

Technology, Peshawar, Pakistan for providing an excellent

platform.

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How to cite this article:

Sundus Anwar, Tanvir Ahmad, Fazal-e-Wahab

“Energy Management in Domestic Household to

Reduce Monthly Bill through Feedback”,

International Journal of Engineering Works, Vol.

8, Issue 04, PP. 138-146, April 2021, https://doi.org/10.34259/ijew.21.804138146.